“Sorry,” one of the stretcher-bearers said as they laid down the transport as gently as possible, though quickly. They ran forward to meet the attackers.
The sound of battle raged in Borac’s ears. The fight was evenly matched in numbers, but his rescuers were fatigued and demoralized. The leader had lost his white cassock to a long sword’s cut that also drew a line of blood across his stomach. He fought on.
Behind him, from out of the trees, an archer raised his bow, arrow aimed at the leader’s back.
Borac slowly raised his right hand. He spoke a spell of death with his human lips. The archer crumpled to the ground.
The leader never noticed. He locked blades with the enemy, pushing strongly until he broke free of the stalemate. He drew another blade from his belt, holding his broadsword one-handed.
With a swift short sword parry that left his opponent’s guard open, the leader withdrew his broadsword from the chest of his enemy. The other man dropped to his knees. The leader raised his sword high above his head and cut viciously down, the wounded man barely parrying. With a cry and another swing, the leader finally killed his man.
“Where’s that archer?” the leader cried to his men, using a foot on the dead man’s chest for leverage to dislodge his sword.
“Here, sir. He’s dead, sir!” one of the others reported. “Funny. There’s not a mark on him.”
“Just as well, then,” the leader said as he knelt beside Borac. “Everything all right here?”
Borac looked the man in the eye. He saw concern, compassion. These men were sincere in their effort to get him to their cleric. On the Dark Queen’s side, Borac knew he would have been left for dead long ago, abandoned. No honor, no courage. Cowards. And cheats.
“South,” Borac whispered.
“What?”
Borac licked his lips. “Go south, not west.”
The leader hesitated, staring at Borac. Then, to the others, he said, “We’ll stop here awhile to gain our bearings. We can’t afford another ambush. I want all of you to scout a half hour in all directions. We’ll meet back here afterward.”
The leader watched his men dash off across the field and hills. After a moment, the leader said, “You should be safe here for now. They’ll be back soon to take you to the healer.”
“I’m … a scout,” Borac managed to say. Moving his jaw sent slivers of fire into his head.
“South,” the leader repeated thoughtfully. Standing, the man checked his wounded stomach. Borac could smell that the cut wasn’t deep. “Is there anything you need?”
Borac said nothing, slowly shaking his head. He felt himself slipping away.
The leader nodded once, stared a moment longer, then walked away, disappeared among the trees. Borac did not regret choosing the target of his spell; the leader would have been killed in a cowardly manner. Borac let out a deep breath and closed his eye, listening closely for the approach of the returning soldiers.
*****
… Borac cursed the race of humans. It had been more than an hour since the others had left. He wondered if the fools had gotten themselves killed, picked off by marauding troops. He cursed them again for stupidly splitting up their strength rather than just forging ahead.
Borac tried to raise himself, but he was still helpless in the grip of the dragonlance’s fire. His head dropped back onto the stretcher and he almost retched from the pain.
“Humans!” Borac cursed them all in the name of his Dark Queen.
Then, with a great groan, Borac lifted himself to a sitting position. He shifted his weight and got his legs under him and tried to stand. Growing faint, he fell over.
Someone caught him. “You’ve got to stay down.”
It was the voice of the leader, come back from his scouting. Borac let himself relax, let himself be laid out again upon the stretcher.
“Where were you thinking of going?” the man asked. “Looking for us?”
Borac attempted to speak, but could only draw deep breaths to keep the pain at bay.
“We weren’t gone that long. And you were right. We would have walked into the camp of the Dark Queen’s army if we’d headed west. We’ve got to head south. Pick him up again,” the leader commanded to the others. “He saved our lives. Let’s do the same for him.”